Friday, April 17, 2009

friday night dinner

Some people love going out for dinner and drinks on Fridays after work. I am not one of those people. Come Friday afternoon, I want downtown and the latest oil and gas prices to be erased from my memory and all I yearn for is my house, my sofa, and a very quick home-made meal. I usually make a huge healthy salad, fish in a packet and nibble on olives. A glass of good wine is also somewhere in the vicinity and essential to the perfect Friday night at home.

Both the Babe and I are surfers - Internet surfers that is. We hunker down, open up our laptops and surf away to the anonymous hum of the television. He scoping out all the latest climbing gossip and me browsing through all the blogs I no longer have time to read during the week. I am so looking forward to the end of May, when my work finally slows down and I can focus on life. At the same time, living in the moment - specifically on a Friday night - is not a bad thing either.

Friday night salad

1 1/2 cups sliced cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup olives (kalamata of course - nothing else will do!)

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1 cup sliced orange or red sweet bell pepper

1 cup torn bocconcini

some torn basil (to taste - there are no rules here)

Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons of the best quality olive oil you can afford

1 tablespoon of excellent balsamic vinegar

a bit of kosher salt

ground pepper

Whip it all together with a fork so it is nice and emulsified and pour over the salad ingredients. ENJOY - pour yourself a glass of something.